Pete Howard is a serious collector seeking old (pre-1970) concert posters and music memorabilia, and who pays the very best prices. He lives in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Please contact him at pete@postercentral.com or (805) 540-0020.

An authentic Janis Joplin window card from Duke University in Durham, NC on Saturday, March 1, 1969.

The first thing you notice about this Janis Joplin broadside is its unusual color scheme… red and white printing on a pink background. It’s a contrast nightmare, but very effective in getting people to come in for a closer look.

And then there’s the white stripe down the right-hand side of this this Janis Joplin billboard. For the life of me (and several friends), I can’t figure out whether that is a printer’s flaw, a faded portion due to florescent lights or sunlight, or the poster designer’s idea of something cool & different. Once I see a second copy of this Janis Joplin window display, my question will probably be answered. Can you help?

Still, I find myself not annoyed by that stripe, because possessing any vintage Janis Joplin poster is a big thrill for me; we lost Pearl way too soon.

You gotta love the ticket-buying information as it’s conveyed on this Janis Joplin telephone-pole poster… tickets were sold only at “the main quad,” three Record Bar stores and by mail order. No computer outlets like Ticketron – how sixties!

And then you fall in love with the prices, as shown in the lower left-hand corner of this Janis Joplin show placard… no seat in the house even reached three bucks!

This Duke Janis Joplin show poster was printed on light card stock, somewhat flexible in nature, but not nearly as thin as regular paper.

This Janis Joplin tour poster measures out at 14 x 22”, the most common size for concert posters of this vintage.

If you look carefully, you can see that this Janis Joplin placard has a few white marks along the very top. Those are known in the hobby as “tape lifts”… they’re what remain when Scotch (or any kind of) tape was used and then later peeled off.

It’s always a bonus when your Janis Joplin in-person poster has an exciting image of the headlining act, and indeed, this Duke poster has a great action photo of Janis on stage. In fishnet stockings, no less.

The students of Duke got a bit carried away with their credit across the top of this Janis Joplin event poster. It states, “The Duke Student Union Major Attractions Committee Presents… Janis Joplin.” Quite a mouthful!

I’d estimate that about 5% of vintage rock-concert concert posters state the year as part of the show’s date like this, because they were all intended to be discarded after the show. This Janis Joplin concert announcement falls into that 5% category.

I want to point out that you can see the bass player standing behind Pearl on this Janis Joplin appearance poster. That’s Brad Campbell, bass player for the Kozmic Blues Band.

I guess it would’ve been asking too much if guitarist Sam Andrew had appeared in the photo on this Janis Joplin concert placard instead, because he was the one member from Big Brother and the Holding Company whom Janis carried forward into her new band in 1969.

By the way, there’s a reason why this Janis Joplin window poster doesn’t name the Kozmic Blues Band by name: they didn’t have a name yet. They really wouldn’t be dubbed the Kozmic Blues Band until Janis’s first solo album came out much later in ’69.

It’s always nice to have an opening act, and this Janis Joplin street sign indeed names the James Cotton Blues Band, a regular presence on her ’69 tour, right below Janis’s name.

You have to remember, this Janis Joplin ticket poster presented the songstress just a couple of months into her solo career… she had played her final gig with BBHC only in December.

In fact, Big Brother’s spectacular Cheap Thrills LP was still nestled in the Top 20 of Billboard magazine’s Top LPs chart at the time this Janis Joplin concert advertisement was distributed. Her Kozmic Blues LP wouldn’t be released for another seven months or so.

A genuine Janis Joplin street poster is a fun collectible, but a lot of people felt that Janis was at the top of her game with Big Brother & the Holding Co., so they opt to collect those posters instead.

But if you prefer a solo Pearl poster, there are lots of opportunities to acquire a Janis Joplin tour placard because she was on tour with her new backing band for most of 1969.

I find it interesting that no printer’s credit is shown at the bottom of this Janis Joplin concert sign, so maybe it was printed up in Duke University’s student print shop.

This Janis Joplin fence poster is lovingly discussed and explained by Pete Howard; that’s me, and I can be contacted at pete@postercentral.com or 805-540-0020. I pay the VERY BEST PRICES, PERIOD for old, vintage Janis Joplin concert posters.